A landmark win by young climate activists in Montana is playing a central role in a court decision that will force state officials to go back and calculate the climate change effects of a controversial gas-fired power plant.
Last week, the Montana Supreme Court found that the state Department of Environmental Quality did not conduct an adequate review of NorthWestern Energy’s Yellowstone County Generating Station before issuing an air quality permit. The decision required Montana DEQ to consider the effects of the permitting decision on the state’s climate — but stopped short of shuttering the recently completed facility.
The ruling comes less than a month after the state’s highest court affirmed in Held v. Montana that lawmakers had violated the state constitution by shielding projects like the NorthWestern plant from being scrutinized for their climate impact.
Environmentalists who brought the lawsuit against the power plant in 2021 hailed the Montana Supreme Court’s call for an environmental review. But they noted that challenges remain — particularly as Republicans who control both chambers of the Montana Legislature are vowing to push back against what they see as abuses of power in the state court system.
